After 25 years of operation, Westgate Joinery is undergoing a change of identity.
Westgate Joinery, the trading arm of Specialist Joinery (South) Ltd, is switching places with its limited company parent and will become the overarching name of the business, supplying and installing joinery for private customers. Specialist Joinery (South) Ltd, meanwhile, becomes the manufacturing division.
It’s another stage in the evolution of the Ringmer, East Sussex-based specialist bespoke joinery company, which was set up by its director David Pattenden in 1990 in partnership with a father and son who ran a construction company in nearby Lewes. Mr Pattenden also entered into a partnership with the owners of Hailsham Joinery and the two companies ran parallel to each other for some years.
As the businesses grew, the protection of a limited company was called for, so Specialist Joinery (South) Ltd was formed, the assets of Westgate Joinery and Hailsham Joinery were merged and the two became trading names. Over time the other partners retired, leaving Mr Pattenden as sole director of the business and the Hailsham Joinery name has been phased out.
Now, Specialist Joinery (South) becomes the manufacturing arm, supplying local builders and its new parent company Westgate Joinery and Timber Window Solutions Ltd, while the latter will concentrate on supplying and installing top end joinery into its core private sector market.
There are various reasons for the change and key among them is the need to distance Westgate, the supply and fit operation, from the company’s trade customers.
"The business has grown and changed massively," said Mr Pattenden. "Years ago both Westgate and Hailsham manufactured joinery which we sold to the trade, with only a little going to private customers.
Now around 80% of our work is for top end private clients and we do a complete package from design and manufacture right through to installation and ongoing maintenance. The remaining 20% is sold to the trade.
"Some of the local builders see us as competition for them so we aim to address that by having Westgate as a separate company," said Mr Pattenden.
Another reason for the change is to prepare the ground for Mr Pattenden’s eventual exit from the company.
"I’m not intending to go tomorrow but these things take some planning and we are gradually developing our management team to enable that to happen," he said, adding that some of the team will be directors of the new Westgate Joinery company.
Meanwhile, in the here and now, business is good for the £1.5m turnover company.
"Business is certainly a lot better than it was this time last year and that in itself was better than the same time in 2013," said Mr Pattenden. "And it’s not just here. From my involvement with the British Woodworking Federation [he is the current president] I’m in contact with the wider industry and the signs are positive."
He added, however, that the relative good times aren’t without their challenges. For example, he firmly believes the joinery sector is underselling itself.
"We all need to charge more for what we do. It’s still very competitive out there and clients are getting very good deals – too good, really.
"The problem is we’re all fighting for market share and that’s holding prices down.
The sector as a whole needs to be more bullish on prices because we all need better margins in order to reinvest in the future of the industry."
The skills shortage is also a cause for concern, stymieing the timber industry’s efforts to manage the growing market.
Westgate has always employed apprentices – many of whom have stayed with the company – and is an advocate of the BWF’s specialist training courses, but Mr Pattenden is acutely aware that apprentices can earn more in other business sectors.
"We’ve always paid higher rates for our apprentices than we have to [by law] but it’s very hard for them to get by, particularly the older ones who are independent of their parents. We’re finding a lot of people coming to us for apprenticeships are in their 20s. If you go to university you can get a student loan, so I think perhaps that should apply to apprenticeships, too."
w"A bench joiner or machinist is a totally different animal to what it was when I did my apprenticeship," said Mr Pattenden.
"There is still a craft element but really we’re timber engineers now. We’ve moved on a million miles and colleges haven’t always moved with us."
One development for the joinery sector in recent years, of course, has been the advent of modified timber and Westgate’s uptake of the material has made a huge contribution to its wider acceptance.
"We were the first company in the UK to use Accoya and I believe that in proportion to our turnover [not volume] we are probably the biggest user of it in the UK today. Very often it’s the only timber going through our workshop."
It is, he said "a superb material" and one that appealed to him even before its developers, Accsys Technologies, put it to market, although he added that it’s not a golden bullet and users need to understand it.
"You have to get to know it," he said. "You can work it the same as [unmodified] timber but there are things you need to understand about it. Its stability is a big bonus because you don’t have to design in for movement but against that there are potential issues with finishing. It really needs to be factory finished because if moisture gets into it it’s very difficult to get it out again. You have to prevent moisture ingress in the first place."
Accoya is an increasingly easy sell to Westgate’s customers thanks to the company’s growing portfolio of case studies.
"We’re now eight years into using Accoya and have some jobs in very exposed locations where we can take prospective clients and show them how well they’re performing."
He added that he’s introduced some of Westgate’s architect clients to Accoya and they’ve now become advocates of the material.
Of course, as a bespoke joinery company, Westgate will use whatever timber the client specifies. Oak is Westgate’s second biggest volume species, while sapele is sometimes used in situations where a customer "won’t run with Accoya, for some reason" and for locations such as door sills.
"Accoya is very durable but it’s soft and isn’t really suitable for something that’s going to be walked over."
Softwood only gets a look in when specified by the customer. "If we get it [a contract] at what we think is the right price, there isn’t much we won’t do," said Mr Pattenden.
The majority of Westgate’s output is window and doors and the company never shies away from technical challenges.
"A lot of the houses we work on are very exclusive and the owners want to be different – big sliding doors, doors meeting at corners, for example. We take on a lot of business that many of the bigger companies won’t because they’re after volume."
Mass production holds no great interest for Westgate, although a contract for replacement windows for Lewes District Council’s offices last year demonstrated they’re prepared to tackle high volumes. The project called for more than 200 factory finished, predominantly sliding sash windows in Accoya.
Westgate is also no stranger to fit-out work and furniture. For example, a current project at a private residence – one that features a small concert hall complete with a pipe organ – includes a staircase, display cabinets and wine cellar storage.
"We haven’t got a window in the place!" said Mr Pattenden.
Looking to the future, there is more investment in the manufacturing facilities planned. The workshop already boasts modern CNC machinery, dust extraction and heating from a biomass boiler thanks to "heavy investment" just prior to the recession. Now the assembly shop is due for a makeover.
"Our assembly area is still very traditional – joiners benches much the same as they were when I started as an apprentice," said Mr Pattenden. "Virtually everything we do is factory-finished so we’re conscious that we need to look at systems to improve that, including automated handling."
The company is also at the point where it’s considering bolstering its installation service. It currently employs 28 staff, including a site team. It also subcontracts to a team of around six carpenters, employing them as and when needed.
"Last year we had two people from the subcontracting team for 44 weeks of the year so we are seriously thinking of recruiting another team ourselves," said Mr Pattenden.
He’s certainly confident the work is there.
"The timber fenestration market has increased massively but I think there is still a huge market right across the board for timber. The whole industry has really upped its game and I firmly believe timber compares very favorably with other materials.
